Democratic Education in Practice

by Knoester, Matthew; Meier, Deborah W.

• ISBN13: 9780807753811
• ISBN10: 0807753815
• Format: Hardcover
• Copyright: 2012-11-23
• Publisher: Teachers College Pr

Summary

The Mission Hill School, founded by MacArthur Award winner Deborah Meier and colleagues in 1997, is a small public school that has rethought almost everything about the process of teaching and learning. Beyond richly describing and evaluating this high-achieving school, the author argues that democratic education is increasingly difficult in this era of testing and standardization and that a school such as Mission Hill must be continually thoughtful, innovative, and courageous in counteracting systemic inequality. This in-depth examination is essential reading for anyone interested in how to better understand seemingly intractable problems related to urban public education in the United States. Book Features: An exemplary model of democratic education that shows the inner workings of a largely teacher-governed school, a rare example of an urban school implementing Dewey-influenced progressive pedagogy, in-depth descriptions of an anti-racist and culturally relevant pedagogy and curriculum, a close examination of successful practices, including shared decision making, intensive problem solving, and looking at student work.